HMS Iron Duke (F234)

	HMS Iron Duke, 2013
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Iron Duke
Operator	Royal Navy
Ordered	July 1988
Builder	Yarrow Shipbuilders
Laid down	12 December 1988
Launched	2 March 1991
Commissioned	20 May 1993
Refit	Major 2012–2014, LIFEX 2019-2022
Homeport	HMNB Portsmouth
Identification	IMO number: 8949628; MMSI number: 234604000; Pennant number: F234; Call sign: GCOB;
Motto	Virtutis Fortuna Comes; ("Fortune is the companion of valour");
Status	in active service
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Type 23 frigate
Displacement	4,900 t (4,800 long tons; 5,400 short tons)
Length	133 m (436 ft 4 in)
Beam	16.1 m (52 ft 10 in)
Draught	7.3 m (23 ft 11 in)
Propulsion	CODLAG:; Four 1510 kW (2,025 shp) Paxman Valenta 12CM diesel generators; Two GEC electric motors delivering 2980kW (4000 shp); Two Rolls-Royce Marine Spey SM1C gas turbines delivering 23,190 kW (31,100 shp);
Speed	In excess of 28 kn (52 km/h; 32 mph)
Range	7,500 nautical miles (14,000 km) at 15 kn (28 km/h)
Complement	185 (accommodation for up to 205)
Electronic warfare ; & decoys	UAF-1 ESM, or, UAT Mod 1; Seagnat; Type 182 towed torpedo decoy; Surface Ship Torpedo Defence;
Armament	Anti-air missiles:; 1 × 32-cell GWS 35 Vertical Launching System (VLS) for:; 32 × Sea Ceptor missiles (1–25+ km) (being fitted in refit as of 2021); Anti-ship missiles:; Up to 2 × quad Harpoon launchers (8 × missiles); Anti-submarine torpedoes:; 2 × twin 12.75 in (324 mm) Sting Ray torpedo tubes; Guns:; 1 × BAE 4.5 inch Mk 8 naval gun; 2 × 30 mm DS30M Mk2 guns, or, 2 × 30 mm DS30B guns; 2 × Miniguns (originally fit; replaced by Browning .50 caliber heavy machine guns as of 2023); 4 × General-purpose machine gun;
Aircraft carried	1 × Wildcat HMA2, armed with:; 4 × Sea Venom anti-ship missiles (full operating capability projected from 2026), or, ; 2 × Sting Ray anti-submarine torpedoes, or; 20 × Martlet multirole air-surface missiles (from 2021); Mk 11 depth charges; or; 1 × Westland Merlin HM2, armed with;; 4 × anti submarine torpedoes;
Aviation facilities	Flight deck; Enclosed hangar;

HMS Iron Duke is a Type 23 frigate of the Royal Navy, and the third ship to bear the name.

Iron Duke has intercepted several large consignments of illegal drugs being sent from the Caribbean to Europe.

In her only combat mission, she was in action off Libya in 2011, destroying a gun battery outside the besieged town of Misrata. She also fired star shells through the night to illuminate pro-Gaddafi positions for NATO aircraft to destroy rocket launchers, fuel dumps, ammo stores, artillery batteries and command and control centres, whilst also confirming that no civilians were in the area.

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